Q&A: Ed Andrewes on life beyond Apple

Ed Andrewes, CEO of  mobile-casino firm Locus Gaming, talks about the rise of non-Apple phones and looks at where the biggest growth will come in the future

eGR MI: What are the biggest territories outside of the UK for Jack Gold?

Ed Andrewes (EA): We have 85% our customer base is in the UK at the moment with the rest in mostly English-speaking countries around the world. We don’t market directly to those other countries at this stage, but we are certainly seeing increased interest. We do take a cautious approach to regulation and staying on the right side of the regulator is very important to us as we want to remain an operator who people consider as a partner.

eGR MI: How much growth do you see from emerging territories and which ones would you highlight as having the most potential?

EA: I see there being huge growth in many of the newly-regulated markets, and in the United States most of all. We’re not in a position to get our own licence there at the moment, but we are having conversations with potential partners. Obviously others are too and operators and players in the emerging territories are not going to be short of options. But we’re confident that the quality of the Jack Gold product and the experience of the team will serve us in good stead.

eGR MI: How are you adapting your products for these markets particularly in relation to those dominated by lower spec Android devices?

EA: From the outset our product was designed to be available on the widest range of devices and operating platforms. By using responsive design we have largely taken the use of different versions of these in our stride, therefore. For operators it is more time-consuming and costly to do so,  but we’ve always believed that customers should get the optimal experience whatever they play on and wherever they play. It’s pretty simple really: the world does not exist on Apple products alone and even in the US more devices on the android operating system are being sold than IOS.

eGR MI: Can mobile casino be compelling on lower spec smartphones?

EA: The simple answer is, yes it can. The better the device, the better experience you’re likely to have on it, obviously. But there’s no reason why lower spec smartphones can’t provide a good customer experience too. The same can be said for the increasingly popular but lower spec tablets. The bottom line is that it is up to the operators and their suppliers to be the best they can on each and every device and operating system. If you can do that you won’t go far wrong, no matter what territory you operate in.

eGR MI: How much growth are we going to see on Windows devices outside of Europe?

EA: Windows’ share of sales is slowing creeping up both in Europe and elsewhere. The recent acquisition of Nokia will undoubtedly help.  That said, penetration is still in single digits meaning Windows devices are not top of our priority list at the moment. But it is something we keep a close eye on.